Science
SCI.III.2.2
Grade: 8th
Strand III:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Life Science
Standard 2:
Organization of Living Things - All students will use classification systems
to describe groups of living things, investigate and explain how living
things obtain and use energy; and analyze how parts of living things are
adapted to carry out specific functions.
Benchmark 2: Describe the life cycle of an organism associated with human disease.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.4 - Gather and synthesize information from books and other sources of information
SCI.I.1.5 - Discuss topics in groups by making clear presentations, restating or summarizing what others have
said, asking for clarification or elaboration, taking alternative perspectives, and defending a position.
SCI.II.1.6 - Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world.
Vocabulary
 Infection process
 Disease
 Parasite
 Host
 Infection
Context



Observation
tools
Hand Lens
Microscope
Life cycle of organism(s) associated with a human
disease(s):
• Lyme disease− tick
• Malaria− mosquito
• Parasites
Resources
Knowledge and Skills
Students will:
•
Diagram and describe the stages of the
life cycle for a human disease-causing
organism. (Different organisms have different
stages in their life cycles e.g. Malaria)
Coloma Resources:
Life Science Chp. 24 (Merrill)
8th grade just look at the diagrams of the
stages of the life cycle.
Other Resources:
•
Anopheles mosquito
Plasmodium cells
in host
(lyse)
Plasmodium cells
to red blood cells
newly infected
host
(lyse)
Plasmodium
spores
to host liver
cells
•
ScoPE – Health and Disease Unit
In this unit students examine how organisms
strive to maintain a stable environment, focusing in
particular on the organisms' response to attacks
by vectors of disease. They examine the effects
and life cycles of organisms that cause human
disease. Students also describe how technology is
used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of
diseases.
Webliography.
http://mtn.merit.edu/mcf/SCI.III.2.HS.2.html
- 18 resources available from the Michigan
Teacher Network
•
•
http://www.aldf.com/templates/DeerTickEcology.cfm
“Deer tick lyme disease”
http://www.biosci.ohiostate.edu/~parasite/home.html “Parasite life cycle”
Instruction
Research the life cycle of an organism causing
human disease. Research in the library or on
the web.
Assessment
Optional Assessment:
Diagram & report on the life cycle of a diseasecausing organism in a public speaking style.
Put separate stages of the life cycle on
individual cards.
Evaluation Rubric
Criteria
Apprent.
Basic
Meets
Exceeds
Accuracy Diagrams
of diagram and labels
a partially
completed
life cycle.
Diagrams
and labels
a life cycle
missing
one or two
components.
Diagrams
and labels
a
complete
life cycle.
Draws and
labels a
complete
life cycle
with an
explanation of
each
stage.
Complete
ness of
presentation
Summarizes the
life cycle
with more
than two
errors.
Summarizes the
life cycle
with one or
two errors.
Summarizes the
life cycle
accurately.
Summarizes the
life cycle
with
additional
information
accurately.
Effectiveness of
presentation
Speaks in
an inappropriate or
distracting
manner.
Speaks
unclearly
or lacks
clarity.
Speaks
clearly
and to the
point.
Speaks
with
creative or
engaging
manner.
Practice placing cards on the proper order.
Diagram the life cycle of an organism for
reporting to the class. Compare the life cycle of
different organisms presented and how the
organisms influence the human host.
Corresponds to Standard I.1.5
Teacher Notes:
Focus Question: How does a human disease-causing organism pass through its life cycle? What
part does the human host play in perpetuating the life cycle?
Investigate and explain how living things obtain and use energy.
The relationship between life and energy is complex. While the generalization that living things need
energy to survive is satisfactory at one level of understanding, it fails to convey the crucial role energy
plays in all aspects of life, from the molecular to the population level. At the elementary level students
can compare and contrast food, energy and environmental needs of selected organisms, such as
beans, corn or aquarium life.
In the middle and high school, the focus is more specific on the concept that plants make and store
food. Scientists speak of the flow of energy through the environment. Almost all life on the earth is
sustained by energy from the sun. This energy is transformed and moved from location to location,
but doesn't disappear. Plants capture the sun's energy and use it to produce energy rich organic
molecules that we call food. The food molecules then serve as energy sources for plants and
ultimately animals.
In animals, organic food molecules are chemically broken down and carried through the circulatory
system to cells, cytoplasm, and eventually to mitochondria. This is, most often the site of final energy
release through the process known as cellular respiration.
The chemical process of photosynthesis occurs at the cellular level and is capable of converting light
energy into molecular energy. Animals are dependent on plants for this first important step in the flow
of energy. In plants, light energy is captured by chloroplasts or chlorophyll and is converted to
chemical energy through the making of organic food molecules when water and carbon dioxide are
chemically combined to make sugar and oxygen. These sugars (organic compounds) formed in
photosynthesis are used for the plant's metabolic processes and maybe ultimately be used as food for
animals. The chemical process of respiration is also cellular. Cellular respiration releases stored
molecular energy so the energy can be used for other life processes. Both plants and animals respire.
The acquisition and use of energy by living things is a very abstract idea for students at all levels.
Students tend to develop a vague and very broad definition of energy that is inconsistent with the
scientific definition. This imprecise definition interferes with the acquisitions of the biological
understanding of energy and its importance in a living system.